For sisters who want to talk to a "real person" instead of using the computer, and to supplement the Face-2-Face we have a fone-2-fone section. You can call Yasmin at 071 9623470 or contact Carima at 087 9309373. If no one is free to take your call at the time insha we will certainly call or text you back. You are NOT alone.

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This Saturday 30th October 2010 the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) will hold a nationwide awareness-raising day to expose the contamination of the global diamond market with Israeli “blood diamonds” ahead of the annual meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP) in Jerusalem on November 1st. Activists from the IPSC will be staging stalls and awareness raising actions in a number of cities and towns including Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.

The contamination of the global diamond market with Israeli blood diamonds must be exposed. The Kimberley Process is a charade designed to convince the public that the trade in blood diamonds has ended when in fact the Process facilitates the trade in Israeli blood diamonds and embellishes them with the title "conflict free". It has become imperative for the EU to challenge the narrow focus of the Certification Scheme which is insufficient to guard against serious violations of human rights.

To coincide with the charade that will be the opening of the annual plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP) in Jerusalem, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) is devoting our monthly boycott day of action to the issue of Israeli Blood Diamonds.

Activities will also be taking place in Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford.

***Facebook Day of Action on November 1***

In addition, to coincide with the meeting of the Kimberley Process in Jerusalem, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign has declared November 1st Blood Diamond Day on Facebook. The IPSC calls on supporters of the Palestinian struggle for justice to post multiple links on Facebook throughout that day to help expose the global trade in Israeli blood diamonds that is facilitated by the KP which certifies Israeli blood diamonds as "conflict free" diamonds.

***BACKGROUND***

The IPSC has been to the fore in highlighting the double standard in the diamond pipeline facilitated by the Kimberley Process which stipulates that only rough diamonds can be classed as 'conflict ' or 'blood' diamonds. Israel, the world’s leading diamond exporter, has been found guilty of gross human rights violation including war crimes and crimes against humanity by a number of UN investigations. Revenue from the Israeli diamond industry funds Israeli war crimes, its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and the illegal siege of Gaza, yet, jewellers are selling Israeli diamonds to unsuspecting consumers as “conflict free” diamonds.

The IPSC has been liaising with MEPs to have this matter raised in the European Parliament and with the European Commission, and for EU representatives at the annual plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process scheduled for the 1-4th November in Jerusalem to seek an urgent review of the definition of a conflict diamond to include all diamonds that fund human rights abuses and not just rough diamonds used by rebel movements. We have received positive feedback from MEPs thus far. The IPSC has also been in contact with the Retail Jewellers of Ireland seeking their support for a review of the KP.